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SCMP Reporter

Name: Guo Yue
Date of Birth: July 17, 1988 in Anshan, Liaoning province

Entry for Beijing Games: Women's table tennis

Career highlights: Bronze medal, women's doubles (with Niu Jianfeng), Athens 2004; Winner, mixed doubles (with Wang Liqin), third, women's singles, 2005 world championships; Winner, team title, women's singles and women's doubles (with Li Xiaoxia), 2006 Asian Games; Winner, mixed doubles, 2007 world championships.

Guo Yue enjoyed a brief spell as world number one in January 2008, replacing compatriot Zhang Yining for a month - and the youngster is eager to repeat the feat in Beijing this summer.

China will dominate table tennis, especially in the women's events where they have occupied the world's top five positions for a long time. With home advantage, it will be interesting to see which of the Chinese women will come out as the eventual winner.

Zhang was world number one even before she clinched both the singles and doubles titles at the Athens Games. Since then, Guo has been her only real threat.

Hailed as an up-and-coming star before the 2004 Games, Guo won a bronze medal in the doubles in Athens, but after four years of international exposure she will come back stronger to challenge for both the singles and team medals in Beijing.

A diminutive player (1.61m), her attacking style reminds people of the retired Deng Yaping, the most successful table tennis player in Olympic history with back-to-back singles and doubles gold medals at the Barcelona and Atlanta Games.

 With age on her side - she will have turned 20 when the Games start - Guo is certainly in a position to challenge that record.
Joining the national team at just 12 in 2000, the left-handed player started her international campaign two years later. In her first year on the pro tour, she reached the grand prix finals and became the youngest player to reach the singles final when she lost to Zhang 4-1.

After capturing an Olympic doubles bronze medal with Niu Jianfeng in Athens, her future looked bright. Her form, though, started to dip and officials took her away from the public glare for six months 'to help her mentally adjust'.

When she returned to competition, it was with a bang. At the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Guo took gold in three events - women's singles, doubles and team. In 2007, she captured two gold medals at the world championships in Zagreb, Croatia, defeating compatriot Li Xiaoxia in the singles final and clinching the mixed doubles title with Wang Liqin. 

Guo was part of the five-member squad that helped China retain the world team title for the eighth consecutive time this year.

But Guo, who played six matches for the team (Zhang made eight appearances and won all), suffered a major setback as she lost to Li Jiawei in the opening tie of the final against Singapore. 'I felt the pressure because it was the first match in the final,' a tearful Guo after the defeat.

The youngster promised she would bounce back quickly and set her sights firmly on the Olympics this summer. Now she feels mentally stronger and is up for the challenge.




No 18: Guo Yue